Amy Hoffman

Amy Hoffman (born 1952) is an American writer, editor, and community activist.

Early life Hoffman was born to a traditional Jewish family. She is the eldest of six children, and grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey.

Hoffman graduated from Brandeis University in 1976. As features editor, she was responsible for putting together the June 1979 Stonewall tenth anniversary issue. She also served a development director for Massachusetts Foundations for the Humanities and the Women's Lunch Place.

During the mid-1980s, Hoffman worked with Cindy Patton to publish a sex-positive magazine for several years. Named Bad Attitude, it was part of what became known as the lesbian sex wars. Lesbian pornography had previously been created with the pleasure of straight men in mind. Patton and Hoffman sought to create a magazine that would celebrate the erotic potential of women with women in a way that affirmed lesbian sexuality, and de-centered straight men's pleasure.

Hoffman published her first book, Hospital Time, in 1997, with a foreword by Urvashi Vaid. The book recollects her friendship with Mike Riegle in the wake of his death from AIDS.

In 2007, Hoffman wrote the memoir An Army of Ex-Lovers about her time as an editor for Gay Community News.

Hoffman was editor-in-chief of Women's Review of Books from 2003 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2018. Vaid, who died in 2022, was a LGBTQ+ activist, author, and civil rights lawyer. The book of writings and speeches will be published by Duke University Press, available on April 15, 2025.

Personal life Amy Hoffman is married to Roberta Stone.

Publications Memoirs

Novels

Panels

Moderated Gay Community News at 50: Content, Controversy, & Coverage'' panel at Massachusetts Historical Society in partnership with The History Project.